Last Updated on January 13, 2026 by The Health Master
FDA Haryana
The northern belt of India is set to benefit tremendously with the intensified action against spurious drugs and illicit narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances (NDPS). The Food and Drugs Administration Haryana (FDA Haryana) recently organized a high-level, cross-boundary, interstate coordination seminar in Chandigarh an unprecedented event for any state government.
Not just any run-of-the-mill gathering, this was a high-level, milestone meeting that included drug regulators from seven states and important enforcement officers from the CID and Police Departments.
The assembly is a pivotal move toward drafting a cohesive regional enforcement plan to combat cross-border drug trafficking.
Why is Inter-State Coordination Essential?
The core objective of the seminar was to take mutual coordination and rapid intelligence sharing to the next level among adjoining jurisdictions that need to be on high alert.
Drug traffickers of counterfeit medicines and diverted NDPS drugs that have transformed into dangerous intoxicantuse don’t recognize state boundaries.
According to Lalit Kumar Goel, Haryana’s State Drug Controller (SDC), this high-level gathering was all possible from the strategic foresight of the leaders of FDA Haryana who had communicated to form a formal interstate coordination committee to connect all northern states.
The idea is to make the entire belt an inhospitable region for traffickers.
Setting the Tone: Serious Business
The event was flagged off by Sudhir Rajpal, Additional Chief Secretary of Health, Government of Haryana, who acknowledged this knowledge-sharing workshop as the ‘need of the hour’.
- The Cross-Border Challenge: According to him, the issue of spurious/counterfeit drugs and NDPS is a menacing challenge that must be tackled by all neighboring states as one.
- Data Sharing Is Critical: He emphasized the need for substantial data sharing between states for effective monitoring and movement tracking.
- Protect India’s Reputation: He implored all parties involved with the utmost level of integrity and accountability to protect India’s global reputation as a quality-oriented pharmaceutical supplier.
Leaders Weigh In from FDA Haryana’s Perspective
Dr. Manoj Kumar, Commissioner of FDA Haryana, welcomed all dignitaries, mentioning how FDA Haryana has successfully intervened multiple times in NDPS cases where officials were on board during prosecution.
He was followed by SDC Lalit Kumar Goel, who raised concerns over three critical factors:
- The illegal trafficking, abuse and diversion of controlled substances.
- The detection of Not-of-Standard-Quality (NSQ) drugs, which ultimately translates to patient safety being put at risk and public confidence diminished.
Both of these occurrences require a holistic, multi-stakeholder approach and seamless access to formal and informal resources to eliminate the crime nexus.
Enforcement Perspective – National Database
The enforcement perspective was provided by Dr. Keshav Kumar, former Joint Director of CBI and DGP of Gujarat, who advised attendees with real-life experiences while commending FDA Haryana for this initiative.
He updated attendees about the Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance’s intention to develop a national database of violators engaged in spurious drugs and NDPS matters.
This would benefit enforcement efforts massively for any major investigations across India. He also suggested that forensics play an important role in exposing exceedingly elaborate spurious drug rackets.
Maintaining the Global Pharmacy Status
O. S. Sadhwani, the former Joint Commissioner-cum-State Drugs Commissioner of Maharashtra, spearheaded the session dedicated to NDPS drugs.
He lamented the current status of NDPS drugs after several recent incidents related to the trafficking of abused substances resulting in NSQ drugs causing pediatric fatalities in numbers.
He continued to delve into India’s position as the leading ‘global pharmacy’ without compromise and called upon all drug regulators and manufacturers to seriously prioritize quality medicine above all else to uphold reputation standards set nowhere else.
The seminar concluded after a fruitful discussion on action plans for spurious drugs and NDPS drugs led by Manish Kapoor, Drugs Controller of Himachal Pradesh.
This successful seminar was attended by over 100 officers from 7 neighboring states:
- Jammu and Kashmir
- Himachal Pradesh
- Delhi
- Uttarakhand
- Punjab
- Chandigarh
The nodal officer was Karan Singh Godara; formal thanks were rendered by Parjinder Singh.
SDC Lalit Goel announced that a report would be generated to compile steps taken and proposed policy recommendations to send to state and central governments for immediate implementation.
Key Drug Regulators in Attendance:
| Name | Role / Jurisdiction |
| Sanjeev Garg | Drugs Controller, Punjab |
| Deepak Sharma | Drugs Controller, Himachal Pradesh |
| Shushant Sharma | Drugs Controller, CDSCO |
| Manish Kapoor | Drugs Controller, Himachal Pradesh (Panel Head) |
Q1: What are spurious drugs?
Spurious drugs are fakes. They are products supposed to be made by the manufacturer but instead are not made by them or at all. Spurious drugs can contain no active ingredients, wrong active ingredients or even wrong quantities making them dangerous. They pose a serious public health threat.
Q2: What are NDPS drugs and why are they relevant to Drug Controllers?
NDPS stands for narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances. These are controlled substances that can have therapeutic use (e.g., pain or anesthesia) but they are dangerous where abuse and diversion is concerned. Drug Controllers are meant to assess their approved manufacturing/sale/distribution to prevent them from being used in drug trafficking and abuse.
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